• Pomelo is launching a family credit card account that gives accountholders up to four cards to give to friends and family overseas.
• Because the payments run on credit rails, users save on international money transfer fees.
• Pomelo is launching money transfer capabilities between the U.S. and the Philippines.

Pomelo is the newest fintech in the digital banking scene. The company is launching today with $70 million in Seed funding to change the fundamentals of international money transfer.

Leading the round are Keith Rabois at Founders Fund as well as Kevin Hartz, Co-Founder of Xoom and General Partner at A* Capital. Afore Capital, Xfund, Josh Buckley, the Chainsmokers, and the Weeknd also participated.

Frenkiel, who regularly sends money to family overseas, came up with the idea for Pomelo while he was visiting family in the Philippines and thought, “Why can’t I just give a card to my family instead of having to send money through Western Union?” At that point, Frenkiel came up with a way to use credit card payment rails to disburse funds and eliminate transfer fees.

Pomelo is a family account that gives the primary accountholder up to four physical and virtual credit cards to give to loved ones overseas. Users can set limits via the app, pause any of the payment cards, and view how each member is spending their funds. Unlike many shared accounts, Pomelo is not prepaid. The primary accountholder pays for the charges on each card at the end of the month and builds their own credit as they pay off each balance.

Each account comes with a Mastercard credit card issued by Coastal Community Bank. And because the payments run via credit rails, the fees are paid by merchants via interchange and daily foreign exchange rates. This eliminates transfer fees, which can add up to 6%.

“Pomelo is on a mission to change how international money transfer fundamentally works,” said Pomelo Founder and CEO Eric Velasquez Frenkiel. “Our goal is to help our customers establish their financial future here in the United States by building positive credit history with their existing remittance obligations, and to financially include their loved ones in emerging economies with access to modern financial instruments. For many of our customers, Pomelo is their first credit card here in the U.S. and the very first card for their loved ones overseas.”

After beta testing the service for several months, Pomelo is launching money transfer capabilities between the U.S. and the Philippines.

Photo by Ron Lach

• Credas has appointed Geraint Rogers as Chief Strategy Officer.
• Rodgers formerly worked at Experian U.K., where he served as the company’s Product Director for Identity, Fraud, and Financial Crime.
• Rodgers will also serve on Credas’ executive board, which includes Barnett and company CTO Kevin Smith.

Digital identity verification platform Credas is bolstering its team this week. The U.K.-based company has appointed Geraint Rogers as Chief Strategy Officer.

Credas anticipates Rodgers will aid the company in the launch of its new Digital Identity wallet later this year. Company CEO Tim Barnett said that Rodgers will “help Credas stay at the forefront of the market.”

Rodgers comes to Credas from Experian U.K., where he served as the company’s Product Director for Identity, Fraud, and Financial Crime. He has almost 30 years of experience in product development and has worked across banking, risk, and compliance departments in senior roles at both Experian and LexisNexis Risk Solutions.

Outside of his role at Experian, Rodgers currently serves as a board member of the Open Identity Exchange, helping to shape industry standards for digital identities and wallets; and he is certified with the U.K. Government’s Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework.

Rodgers will also serve on Credas’ executive board, which includes Barnett and company CTO Kevin Smith.

Founded in 2017, Credas offers biometric facial recognition, document authentication, and eSign technologies to help businesses across a range of sectors streamline their onboarding processes, conduct due diligence, and remain compliant.

Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

• Santander Bank has selected Rocket Mortgage to provide its clients an online mortgage lending tool.
• Rocket Mortgage will offer Santander clients exclusive discounts and resources to help them in their home buying journey.
• Rocket Mortgage was among the first to offer a fully digital mortgage lending experience when it did so in 2015.

A partnership between Santander Bank and Rocket Mortgage is taking off today. Santander has selected online mortgage lending company Rocket Mortgage to serve as the as the exclusive preferred mortgage provider for its customers.

Santander will leverage Rocket Mortgage to offer its two million clients exclusive discounts and resources to help them in their home buying journey. The collaboration enables users to interact independently online or speak to a home loan expert via a phone call, email, or online chat.

“At Santander, we place the customer at the center of our business, and I’m pleased to be working with Rocket to deliver a convenient and simplified digital mortgage experience for our customers,” said Santander Bank Head of Consumer and Business Banking Patrick Smith. “Our relationship with Rocket Mortgage is another example of how Santander Bank is evolving our business and continuing to pursue opportunities for our customers to save, invest and manage their money at Santander.”

Santander is able to use its scale to secure discounts on loan costs and closing costs for its clients. Santander Private Clients and employees who close loans with the new platform can benefit from enhanced discounts.

Formerly known as Quicken Loans, Rocket Mortgage was a pioneer in digital mortgage lending. The company was among the first to offer a fully digital mortgage lending experience when it did so in 2015. The company closed $351 billion of mortgage volume across every U.S. state in 2021.

Photo by Kindel Media